Links

LOS ANGELES — It was a memorable occasion for Kelly Hrudey, the latest recipient of the Legends Night treatment at Staples Center.

It was a night one of the other goalies in attendance would sooner forget.

With thousands of fans wearing giveaway bandanas to salute the retired puck-stopper-turned-broadcaster, Hrudey joked during a pre-game ceremony that Calgary Flames netminder Miikka Kiprusoff and Los Angeles Kings counterpart Jonathan Quick were probably laughing at footage from his eight-season stint in Hollywood.

As it turned out, Kiprusoff didn’t provide a lot of highlight-reel material of his own in Saturday’s 6-2 shellacking by the defending Stanley Cup champions, and the rest of the Flames didn’t give him much support, either.

Kiprusoff, making a third straight start since returning from a knee injury, made just 16 stops on 22 shots before being yanked midway through the third period, surrendering goals to Jeff Carter, Jake Muzzin, Trevor Lewis, Justin Williams, Anze Kopitar and Colin Fraser.

“It was screened shots, tip-ins … no goalie is going to stop those ones. Those are goals that are going to go in on anyone,” said Flames defenceman Mark Giordano. “The stats look ugly because we gave them too many screens, tips and tap-ins right in the crease. There’s not much he’s going to do about those ones.”

Michael Cammalleri and Alex Tanguay replied for the Flames, who have allowed 10 goals over the first two outings of their SoCal road-trip and managed only 19 shots on Quick in Saturday’s lopsided loss.

The Flames (9-10-4) will stick around L.A. to prep for Monday’s rematch with the Kings (13-8-2).

With a knack for shrugging off tough outings, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Kiprusoff — beaten four times on 24 shots in Friday’s 4-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks — is back between the pipes Monday.

“I’ll never blame Kipper,” said Flames rearguard Chris Butler. “He’s the best goalie in the league, and he keeps us in games we have no right being in, so I’ll never put anything on him.”

Flames defenceman Dennis Wideman figured he’d given the out-of-towners the early momentum with a shot from the point in the first period of Saturday’s loss, but the goal was waved off because winger Lee Stempniak — with a nudge from Mike Richards — was draped on top of Quick.

It turned from bad to worse when the Flames were whistled for a bench-minor penalty for abuse of officials, with head coach Bob Hartley accepting the blame in his post-game press scrum.

“Our video coach felt it was a good goal,” Hartley said. “I think that’s a classic example for a coaches challenge, but that’s what it is.

“You just don’t win with the referees so I shouldn’t have done it.”

Kings captain Dustin Brown feathered a pass through Kiprusoff’s crease to Carter for a tap-in on that powerplay, a goal the Flames netminder had absolutely no chance on.

After Cammalleri cashed in on a five-on-three to tie it up, Muzzin and Lewis each scored to give the Kings a lead they wouldn’t let go.

While Tanguay took advantage of a terrific pass from Giordano to cap a wild, wacky opening period, the damage was already done.

A top-shelf deflection from Williams in the middle frame and third-period tallies by Kopitar and Fraser provided more than enough insurance for Quick, who wasn’t forced to make any exceptional saves in the final two periods.

“Our last two games feel pretty similar,” said Flames captain Jarome Iginla. “As soon as they start getting some momentum, we just haven’t been able to stop the bleeding when it’s going, and, all of a sudden, they’re up two or three and so on.

“It’s momentum. I thought we were going pretty good, and we didn’t make our chances count when we needed them to. They’re playing at home. They started getting some momentum, and they ran with it again.”

As it turned, Kiprusoff didn’t provide a lot of highlight-reel material of his own in Saturday’s 6-2 shellacking from the defending Stanley Cup champions, and the rest of the Flames didn’t give him much support, either.

Kiprusoff, making a third consecutive start since returning from a knee injury, made just 16 stops on 22 shots before being yanked midway through the third period, surrendering goals to Jeff Carter, Jake Muzzin, Trevor Lewis, Ju